Life After Death/Issue 25
The next morning was very cold and breezy. Almost everyone was awake, except for Emily, who had slept in a good hour after everyone else. Ike and Rachel had set Kumar up with a bucket of water and rag to wash the dishes. "So..." Ike said as Kumar started to scrub a plate. He had been given an extra jacket to stay warm. "Is there anything else you remember from the bandits?" "No," he replied. "Well...I think I saw one of them, but it was just a glance." "Can you describe what he looked like?" "No...I can't picture his face. Sorry." "It's fine." "No offense, but why do you even care?" "Because...those assholes killed a couple of ours. We didn't get a good look at them, they were all covering their faces." "Yeah, they were when they attacked us, too." "We took a couple of them out...burned the bodies, but that doesn't fix what they've done." "What do you plan to do?" "Kill them." "Seriously?" "They're low life thugs who don't deserve to live, and I'm not letting them come after my son. I thought they had moved on from here after they attacked us, but I guess not. If they're that close...they need to be dealt with." "I don't know about that...we had guns, and they...they took us all out." "I know it seems like a stupid idea...but they need to be taken care of." "Why not just leave the area? I don't mean to be rude, but that seems like the smarter way to handle things. If you just charge in and try to wipe them out...you're going to lose people." "Look...I haven't given this too much thought; I just thought over the idea while I was in bed. Nothing's set in stone...I'm going to keep thinking about it. You just...focus on the dishes." "Alright." ---- Emily opened her eyes and was greeted with the bright blue color of the tent. She immediately shivered, and sat up. She opened the tent door and saw everyone else was already up, and sighed. Getting out of the tent, she stretched and started to walk toward Devon, who was sitting by the firepit along with Owen. "...well he's really cool," Owen said. "He eats crickets and jumps around and looks like sand." "Oh? That sounds pretty cool," Devon replied. "He is." Emily walked up beside them and Devon turned his head. "Oh, hey...Emily." "Hi." "Hey, Owen, why don't you go find your dad, okay?" "Fine," Owen said with a frown as he stood up and walked away. Emily sat beside Devon and they turned toward each other. "So, about last night," Emily said quietly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of-" Devon started to say but was cut off. "It's fine. I just...didn't know you felt that way about me." "Of course I do. I have for a long time...I just didn't know how to tell you. I didn't know if you felt the same back." "Well, I do. I have for a while, but..." "But what?" "I don't think we can be together." "Why not?" Emily stared at the ground, blankly. "What's wrong, Emily?" "I already told you about my last boyfriend...I let him die." "Don't think li-" "No, it was my fault...I fucked up and he payed with his life. I don't want that to happen to you." "Nothing like that will happen." "Trust me, bad things always happen to me. It's been like that my whole life. It's just a matter of time..." Devon put his arm on Emily's shoulder to comfort her. "Look...we've both been through so much, we've both had people close to us taken away...don't you think we deserve some happiness? If I'm going to die sometime soon, I'd rather die in your arms than by myself." "I guess you're right. Maybe we can make it work." "We can. You should go get something to eat, Bart made some soup earlier." "Alright." Gregory observed from afar with a smile as the two sat there, realizing what was going on, and happy that they had each other. Emily got up and walked over to Bart, who was eating a bowl of soup outside his tent. ---- Ike walked up to the RV, and attempted to open the door, only to realize it was locked. "Getting dressed!" she shouted as she held her shirt in front of her and looked over at the door. "Oh, it's you." "It's me." Rachel walked over to the door and unlocked it, letting Ike in. She put her shirt on the bed, picked up her bra, and started putting it on. "So, what's up?" "Well, last night, I got to thinking..." Ike walked over to Rachel, placed his hands on her waist, put his head on her shoulder, and pulled her in. "Owen and you...you two mean the world to me. I'd be devastated if something were to happen to you..." "And...? What are you getting at, Isaac?" "I don't think it's safe to be here with those bandits out there...and I think it would be best to take the fight to them." Rachel pushed Ike off of her, turned around, and glared at him. "Are you insane? You'd be gunned down before you even lifted your gun." "I'd bring people with." "And risk their safety? Isaac, these people are bandits. They're ruthless and heartless, they wouldn't think twice about putting a bullet in your head." "Well, if we want to stay here for a couple more days, it's either that, or wait for them to come back here. They're still close by...and I'm sure they're gonna want to finish the job. I'm not going to sit back and have you two taken away from me." "If they wanted to come back, they would have by now. I don't want to hear another word of this from now on, do you hear me?" Ike sighed. "Fine." ---- Brie walked across the field and approached Morgan, who was sitting by the fence with a pile of clothes and large bucket of water. "Who are you and what have they done with Morgan?" Brie joked. Morgan laughed, and replied. "They brainwashed me." "No, but seriously. Why are you washing clothes? You told me you hate doing that shit." "I just wanted to help out around here. Doing some work for them won't hurt our chances of them letting us stay here." "Yeah, but I'd of thought you'd pick something...different. Like, I don't know, filling up guns with bullets." "They said they needed clothes washed, so I started washing them. I don't see the big deal." "There's no big deal, I'm just saying." Brie sat down beside Morgan, and looked around in silence. "So..." she started to say. "How have you been doing?" "Huh?" "Well, we haven't had an actual conversation in a bit, and last time we did, you were still pretty heartbroken over...you know..." "Oh...I've been trying hard to not think about that..." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset." "It's fine, you're just being a good friend. It still hurts...I still feel empty inside...I don't think I'll ever be fully over it, but I'm trying to look forward. And it's tough...it will keep being tough, but eventually, it won't be so bad." "I hope so, I hate seeing you like this. You know, we're all here for you if you ever need someone to talk to." "I know, thank you." "No problem." ---- Eric, Andre, and Dolph stood behind a tent, discussing the current situation. "Look, guys," Dolph started. "We really should move on. We got some food in our stomachs, and a good night's sleep. We got a horde coming our way, and some fucking bandits on the loose. This place isn't safe, and if we stay here, it's going to bite us in the ass." "I don't know, Dolph," Andre objected. "These people are kind, we've got a lot of guns and manpower, and we have a fence keeping people out. Besides, we'd be able to see rotters or armed men coming from a mile away. There ain't exactly a lot of places to hide." "You really think a chain fence is going to keep a couple hundred rotters from getting in? And how the fuck is it supposed to stop a bullet?" "If you're so concerned, we can bring this up with Ike-" "Bring what up with me?" Ike asked as he walked around the tent with Ryan and Bart behind him. "Oh, uh, we were just...talking about staying or not. We didn't know how you'd feel." "Rachel and I have talked, and we're more than happy to let you stay. Saving Matt's ass back there...you've more than earned it." "Well, thank you. Uh...is there something you needed?" "Oh, yes. I just wanted to ask you three if you'd help me with a small favor." "Sure, what is it?" Andre said. "I wanted to see if you'd be interesting in helping us...check for that horde you four ran into the other day." Credits * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Deaths *None